Interim evaluation of the Public Sector Loan Facility
Date: 2024-02-02
Institutions: Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission
Subjects: EU regional policy



PART-2024-118390V1.docx











CALL FOR EVIDENCE 


FOR AN EVALUATION / FITNESS CHECK 






This document aims to inform the public and stakeholders about the Commission's work, so that they can provide feedback and participate effectively in consultation activities. 


We ask these groups to provide views on the Commission's understanding of the problem and possible solutions and to share any relevant information that they may have.






Title of the evaluation




Public Sector Loan Facility – interim evaluation






Lead DG – responsible unit 




DG REGIO – Unit F1 Better Implementation and Closure






Indicative timetable 


(planned start date and completion date)




Q4 2023 - Q2 2025






Additional information




https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/just-transition-mechanism_en






This document is for information purposes only. It does not prejudge the final decision of the Commission on whether this initiative will be pursued or on its final content. All elements of the initiative described by the document, including its timing, are subject to change.






A. Political context, purpose and scope of the evaluation






Political context 






The Public Sector Loan Facility (PSLF or ‘the Facility’) is the third pillar of the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM).
1



The general objective of the Facility is to address serious social, economic and environmental challenges deriving from the transition towards: (i) the EU’s 2030 climate and energy targets; and (ii) the objective of climate neutrality in the EU by 2050 at the latest set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/1119. The Facility is targeted for the benefit of the EU territories identified in the territorial just transition plans approved by the Commission.


The specific objective of the Facility is to increase public-sector investments which address the development needs of the territories identified in the territorial just-transition plans by facilitating the financing of projects that do not generate sufficient streams of revenues to cover their investment costs. 


The PSLF Regulation provides a total maximum budget of EUR 1.52 billion of EU support for the grant component of the Facility (including technical assistance and advisory support). 


Under the Facility, loans (provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) as finance partner) are combined with grants (provided by the EU) to support projects submitted by public-sector entities following a call for proposals with resources to meet the development needs in the transition towards a climate-neutral and environmentally sustainable economy. The EIB will provide EUR 10 billion for the loan component of the Facility. The PSLF aims to mobilise EUR 18.5 billion of public investment.


Pursuant to Article 17 of the PSLF Regulation (2021/1229), the European Commission must conduct an interim evaluation to assess the implementation of the Facility and its capacity to achieve the objectives set out in Article 3 of the PSLF Regulation by 30 June 2025.






Purpose and scope 






The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the current state of implementation of the Facility with a view to providing lessons learnt which could be used to improve PSLF implementation in the remaining period of the instrument. In line with the ‘better regulation’ guidelines, the evaluation will cover – in as much detail as possible – all five evaluation criteria, namely the Facility’s: (i) effectiveness; (ii) efficiency; (iii) relevance; (iv) coherence; and (v) EU added value. 


The evaluation will cover the grant component of the Facility from the date when the PSLF Regulation entered into force in 2021 in the 27 Member States, in particular in the territories identified in the territorial just-transition plans. The loan component is not subject to this evaluation in accordance with the administrative agreement signed between the Commission and the EIB for the purpose of implementing the PSLF.


Because the first grant under the PSLF was only awarded in October 2023, there is currently little information on implementation available. In this context, the interim evaluation will consist of the following main components: 


1. a self-assessment to be conducted internally by the Commission; and


2. an external evaluation study to collect evidence, focusing on progress and issues related to: implementation, technical assistance, coherence, synergies with other EU and national funding instruments, EU added value, and other PSLF-relevant topics.


The evaluation will cover the grant component of the PSLF from the date when the PSLF Regulation entered into force in 2021 until the latest available information.






B. Better regulation






Consultation strategy 






The consultation strategy will combine different activities. These will comprise: an online survey, interviews, and case studies. 


Due to the limited implementation and the nature of the PSLF as a funding instrument targeting identified just-transition regions in the EU, no public consultation is planned.


A report summarising all consultation activities will be drawn up and the outcome of the consultation activities will be reflected in the final version of the evaluation report to be prepared by the Commission at the end of the evaluation.






Why are we consulting? 






The aim of the consultation strategy is to collect evidence, meaningful information and expert opinion to answer the identified evaluation questions, addressing the relevant knowledge gaps and validating the preliminary findings.






Target audience






The consultation activities will collect feedback and views from main stakeholders targeting all regions in the territorial just-transition plans at different levels who have contributed to the design and implementation of the PSLF. These include: national, regional and local authorities; intermediate bodies; and financial institutions. Final recipients/project promoters and those potential applicants who did not request financing or whose projects were finally not approved will also be consulted. The consultation activities will also target just-transition experts and officials from the Commission and other related EU implementing and advisory partners such as the EIB.






Data collection and methodology 






The evaluation will make use of a mix of qualitative and quantitative information to be collected in-house by the Commission and by a contractor. The analysis will combine (triangulation) methods and data to ensure robustness of the results. 


Monitoring data will be extracted from the Commission IT-system used to report on the key performance indicators (as per Annex II PSLF Regulation) and the progress of the Facility.


For the purpose of this evaluation, desk research, including analysis of documents provided by DG for Regional and Urban Policy's databases will be carried out. 


A literature review of other relevant sources, taking into account published and ongoing work by the Commission and other EU institutions, Member States, Managing Authorities, experts, and relevant stakeholders will serve as additional input for the evaluation. 


Qualitative consultation methods for stakeholders’ engagement will be also used to gather additional knowledge and evidence on the Facility.










(1)
 The Just Transition Mechanism consists of three pillars: 1/ 
the Just Transition Fund,
 2/ a dedicated scheme under the 
InvestEU Programme
 and 3/ the Public Sector Loan Facility. The latter is the subject of this interim evaluation.